Video game industry embraces GaymerCon

David Konow, 30th September 2012

Many people have stereotypical images of geeks and gamers, but they really do come in all shapes and sizes.

We geeks know what it’s like to be labeled as different, we know what it is to be an outsider, and we’d never exclude anyone from enjoying games and comics in a million years. If you dig geek stuff, that pretty much makes you an honorary brother or sister in the geek inner circle.

Recently, the folks at Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed it was supporting GaymerCon, which will be the first gaming convention for the gay community when it kicks off in San Francisco in August 2013. As an EA executive said, "[We] believe that to be truly innovative, you must be inclusive. We are proud to be part of this event."

Jack DeVries, who is the operations director for GaymerCon, said, "EA not only publishes some of the best games in the world, but they’re the most progressive company in the industry. We’re thrilled and honored to have them involved in GaymerCon."

Gaymer is the first gaming and tech site for the lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender world, and XBox Live also put out a video supporting the site. In the video, one of the Xbox execs said, "It’s a great opportunity to bring people together, about a common cause and common background, and see what comes out of it."

In related news, it’s always a trip when life imitates art, and sometimes you have situations where art imitates art, then imitates life again. Sorry if that was confusing, but what we’re trying to say is we think that the X-Men comics may have actually inspired a real life gay couple to get married.

And indeed, superheroes are a big inspiration to people of all races, colors, creeds, and sexual orientations. Some will tell you there was a pro-gay agenda in the first X-Men movie (the one in Batman and Robin was pretty obvious), and the not so hidden message of the X-Men films is it’s okay to be different, even if all of society won’t completely embrace it or accept it.

In a recent issue of X-Men, two characters, North Star and Kyle Jinadu, were married, and an organization, for lack of a better term, called One Million Moms, whose numbers are far less than a million, got their shorts in a knot over all this. The Million Moms tried to organize boycotts of comics with gay characters, but as usual in cases like this, it was the best free publicity X-Men could have asked for, and it sales through the roof.

So as the L.A. Times tells us, inspired by the X-Men, a marriage was held at Midtown Comics in New York. The men getting married are Scott Everhart, who is 39, and Jason Welker, who is 33. Both men are from the Ohio area, and as Everhart told the Times, "It’s the perfect, geeky way to do it. Our first date was in a comic book store."

The wedding ceremony was provided free by Midtown Comics, who posted a message on Out.com, saying they would marry a gay couple in their story. (Over fifty other couples also applied.) As Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Midtown Comic told the Times, "It’s a big step forward."